


What If...

by VioletBarnes



Series: Rewrite of season 4 and end of season 3. At least. With Major changes. [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: And violence, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Language, Named Reader, Rating for Language, Reader-Interactive, You are a seer, but You come back, slight spoiler, will tag as I go, you can see what others see with the hellhound glasses, you die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-09-21 02:33:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9527942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletBarnes/pseuds/VioletBarnes
Summary: Rewrite of seasons 3 and 4. And major changes to main plot twists. Changed to first person P.O.V. and changed the title, and changed sister's name so it won't be as confusing. GOING ON TEMPORARY HIATUS UNTIL I CAN FINISH WATCHING SUPERNATURAL (FOR THE FIRST TIME) AND FIGURING HOW I WANT TO PLOT THIS MONSTER.





	1. I Meet the Winchesters...again

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I did edit on September 9, 2017. Not much just slightly sadder, sorry wanted more emotion. Just to clarify you have known the boys for years. Y'all would hang out when they stayed at Bobby's. Yes, you are from Texas! I updated the first chapter to include a real life version of your first solo hunt.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First solo hunt, and meeting the Winchesters... again. Just changed the POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now beta'd by girl-next-door-writes.

**Almost June 21, 1987 a few hours before midnight.**

     "It's the first night of the full moon. It'll be too strong. I have a bad feeling about this hunt. Please don't go, or take me with you." I pleaded with my parents, but my cries fell on deaf ears. What did I know, I was 8. I may have been the reason they had to start hunting in the first place but it was supposed to be a simple werewolf hunt. Nothing to worry over.

     "Stay here, watch Alina, and don't follow us." My dad said as he and my mom left. I paced the floor for the next hour, knowing they wouldn't be done yet, but wanting them home already. The sick feeling in the pit of my stomach just kept getting stronger the longer they were gone. Making up my mind to disobey them, I strapped my .22, my .45, and my silver knife to me, making sure I had the gasoline, salt and matches in my duffel. Turning to my four-year-old sister, Alina who had been staring wide-eyed at me this whole time. I said "Stay here, Don't answer the door unless I give the special knock. Stay quiet. If no one's back by midnight you know what to do." I had a bad feeling that my parents weren't making it out of this one alive, but I could only hope that for once I was wrong. Picking up my duffel I slipped out the door, after giving one last grin to my baby sister.

     Walking I followed my parents trail to the warehouse district where the werewolves had been dragging their victims to feast in peace. The scene I came upon was enough to make anyone turn tail and run, but I stayed. My parents were fighting for their lives and being shredded for their trouble. The male had been clipped in the shoulder while the female was bleeding from her stomach. My arrival distracted the pair long enough for me to double tap them both in the heart. Seeing them turn before my eyes I could tell they didn't know what had happened. I turned away, unable to watch them die. Running over to my parents I knelt down next to them, cradling their heads in my lap as best I could. I watched the life drain out of their eyes as they grew limp. I bowed my head in grief for a moment. Gathering myself, I dragged the bodies together after double checking everyone was dead. Searching my parents bodies for the usual wallets, wards, and weapons I made sure to pack those in my duffel before pulling out the supplies to burn the bodies. Making sure to thoroughly salt and soak them in gasoline before wrapping the bodies in spare fabric that had been left in the warehouse and tying rope around them to keep the fabric in place. Building the pyres from packing crates and pallets, I dragged the bodies up onto them after making sure they were secure. I then struck the match lighting everyone on fire. After watching them burn to ash and packing the car, I drove it to the edge of town to a side road. Dawn was just breaking as I make my way back to the hotel. Claire opened the door after I gave the special knock.

     "What's wrong? Where are mommy and daddy?" Alina asked seeing the tears in my eyes as she sleepily rubbed her eyes.

     "I'm sorry, they're dead. I didn't get there in time. Hunt's done, I'll clean up then we're leaving make sure you're packed." I replied not looking at my sister unable to see the heartbreak and betrayal I knew would be in her eyes. After washing up, changing, and packing my dirty clothes to burn later, I went to check on my baby sister. She was upset but took me at my word knowing I would never lie to her. She sat with our bags as I locked up and snuck in to put the key at the front desk since we were paid up for that night. Once we had made it to the car, I had Alina settle in the backseat for a nap as I sat in the front and called Bobby to pick us and the car up. When Bobby came he brought John Winchester to drive the car back. Bobby gave both of us a big hug, before we settled into his car and drove to his place, our new home.

***********************20 years later***************************

'Those boys were going to going to get me killed one day. I just know it!' I thought, watching them enter the house after I did. 'I had known these boys forever. Meeting up with them every few summers when we would all three be spending the summer at Bobby's. A ghost was haunting a house, killing couples after killing his spouse and her lover. A simple salt and burn, just had to check the house out first, make sure I wasn't missing anything. How could I know the Winchester boys were going to investigate the same case as me? It wasn't like I didn't like them exact opposite was true. Sam had been my best friend despite being my sister's age. And Dean, well, I had had a crush on him almost as soon as I saw him. Who wouldn't with those candy apple green eyes, all those freckles, and the fanfiction lips. Yes, I was a fangirl. Couldn't just read lore. Didn't matter if I was raised on it, sometimes I needed a new world to escape to, especially knowing that what went bump in the night was real.' .

Sam was walking up the stairs first, with Dean following close behind. I was in the master bedroom, where the ghost had found his wife and her lover in bed together, where he had shot them before shooting himself. "Hey boys, didn't expect to see y'all here." I said as they started to come in the room.

"Hi, Darcy, still hunting?" Dean asked.

"No, I just like showing up in haunted houses for fun," I said sarcastically.

"Stupid question, just last I heard from Bobby, you had gone off to college, like Sammy here," Dean said.

"Nope, damn shapeshifter thought it'd be a grand idea to dress up like my roommate, and kidnap me. It had been going around killing people after beating them up on campus. Roommates were being suspected even though they had always gotten along before. Knew something was up, but had been trying to stay out it and the life. Didn't work. Shifter knocked me out, and tied me to my desk chair. I woke up bruised and bloody, must have hit something on the way down. Luckily I still had my .22 on me. Shot it full of holes, emptying the chambers of all their silver bullets into it's chest. I dropped the gun after making sure to smudge my fingerprints. Cooked up a story for the cops, then left. Citing 'emotional trauma'. Didn't even get to finish the damn semester," I said.

"Damn shame, Darce, you always were the smart one." Sam said

"Thanks Sammy. Sorry, Sam." I said.

"Might as well join us sweetheart. Could always use the help digging." Dean said.

"Thought you didn't want people joining us?" Sam asked.

"Darcy isn't people she's family." Dean said.

Sam gave Dean a look that I couldn't quite read.

After that we finished up the hunt, and went to the motel to pack up. Dean wanted to go to the bar and drink so Sam and I went along. We ended up back at our motel just drunk enough to not want to go to sleep yet. Dean suggested Truth or Dare drinking style of course. That went on before it got personal.

"First solo hunt?" Dean asked me, "What did ya hunt, how old."

"Mated pair of werewolves, age 8." I said.

"Whoa, mated pair, not many hunters can take them on, especially alone, much less at 8. There's got to be a story!!" Dean said.

I looked down at my hands as I chewed on my bottom lip, not sure if I wanted to tell my story quite yet. I decided that I had known them long enough, knew enough of their story, and just drunk enough to tell my story.

As I told them the story I stared at my hands with my head bowed, and voice low. I swallowed and looked up when I was finished.

"Aww, baby, didn't know about your parents. Having to do that must've been tough." Dean said.

"Sorry, didn't mean to make you relive that." Sam said.

"Yeah, well, you didn't know. It was tough but I lived. Bobby was there for me, plus I had my aunt who was more like a second mother to me to help with the girl stuff. Enough chick flick moments for me. Get to sleep you two. Y'all look dead on your feet." I said.

"Thanks sweetheart. You really know how to make a girl blush." Dean said.

"Go to sleep, weirdo. We can talk in the morning. I'll be in my room next door. Good night." I said as I left for my room.


	2. Selling My Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hearing that Dean has less than two months to live, you decide to sell your soul for him. What does this mean? Does Lilith have more important plans than you know of?

Waking up before dawn to go on my usual run, I ran into Sam. "Hey, what are you doing up at this early hour?" I asked.

"I could ask the same of you," Sam said with his usual sass, "Early run, you?"

"Same. You wanna catch up?" I asked, as I finished stretching.

"Sure, I mean we owe you one with us knowing so much about you." Sam replied.

As we ran Sam caught me up on everything since we had last seen each other at my 18th birthday party after I had graduated. Sam was the first person I told that I was going to college to get out of this life, like Bobby, my new dad, wanted me to. I had a feeling that that was what gave Sam hope that he could get out too. He told me about Dean selling his soul to bring Sam back from the dead, and I told him about how Alina had managed to get me to training her after she learned about the life at 16. Since she was the same age as Sam, I had always tried to protect my little sister from the life, but she was as stubborn as I was and refused. My aunt could only do so much to get me out without kidnapping and having my parents kick her out of our life for good. So she taught us wards, and simple spells, for other bits of protection, being a minor witch that trained under Rowena, not that I knew that. Now that I knew that Lilith held Dean's contract, and since I had a bit of in with her, I could only hope that I could help with situation. An idea started to form.

"Thank you Sam, I'm glad we get to catch up. Y'all need friends that will check-in on y'all like this." I said as we arrived outside our rooms.

"It was my pleasure. You're right, we do, just hate dragging anyone in deeper with us." Sam said.

"Don't think like that, it's my choice. Think Dean will let me stick around around. Claire is still off hanging with out aunt." I asked.

"We'll see, I'll help you convince him. Now go take a shower, you stink!" Sam said pushing me toward my room.

"Thanks." I said dryly, "Like you smell any better Samsquatch." I called over my shoulder, before slipping into my room.

Sam let out a light chuckle and shook his head at you as he went into his own room. I gathered my shower stuff and a set of clean clothes, before starting my shower. As the cold water cooled me down, I started working on the idea that had started to form on my run. I knew that I was special to the angel's and possibly the demon's side of the war. Being the Seer meant that I could see angels, demons, souls, and a few other monsters true forms. Which is the real reason my parents had to start hunting to teach me how to protect myself. I hadn't told the boys after hearing Dean's reaction to Sam's psychic abilities. I could have told Sam, but didn't want to give him a secret to keep from Dean. Rumours were "given" to me when I had tracked down and interrogated a few demons. Rumours that a top demon named Lilith wanted Dean Winchester's soul, something about him being the Righteous Man. If she couldn't get his soul, she would love to have mine. I knew that she hoped to use it to start the apocalypse, I didn't know how, and didn't care. I just knew that I was willing to sell my soul to save Dean's. A plan formed that I would join the boys hunting, and protect them until my time came. I would sell your soul that night if possible otherwise as soon as I could, then join the boys. By now the hot water I had turned on halfway through my shower had run out.

After getting dressed I left my room and went to knock on the boys room, when I heard Dean saying, "Sam, no, Darcy can't come with us. I won't let her be dragged any farther into this life." Just then I opened the door having heard enough.

"Well too bad, Dean. You have no choice, I'm coming with y'all and there's nothing you can do about it." I said, as Sam gave Dean his signature puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, you can stay, but don't do anything stupid." Dean said.

"Thanks, got it. I'll meet y'all at Bobby's. Gotta have somewhere to leave my car, don't I? Plus I need to pick up some girl stuff, before we leave together." I said to their questioning looks, 'Such as sell my soul.' I thought.

Sam followed me out of their room as I went to pack. "Please don't let him leave without me." I said before turning to go to my room.

"Will do." Sam replied as he left as well.

Everyone packed up with their bags in their cars, when I walked over to Dean. Reaching my hand up, I put it on his cheek, as I said "You watch out for yourself. I'll be there before you know it." Before turning to go back to my car, and leaving. I left too fast to see Dean staring after me with a look that was for lack of a better word, dreamy. Like he wanted me, and not just like lusting after me, but for affection and all the love I could give him. Shaking his head, he sat in Baby, Sam gave him a look but wisely held his tongue.

That afternoon at a lonely crossroad, I stood waiting after burying a box with the necessary ingredients. A demon appeared behind me. Turning around, I waited for her to speak. "Want to sell your soul, girly?" the demon asked.

"Yes." I replied without my usual sarcastic wit.

"Well, what will it be for this time? Money? Love? Fame? Or something interesting?" the demon asked.

"What, don't recognize me? I'm here for Dean's soul. I want Dean's original contract for my soul." I replied.

"Oh, girly, you should know I can't do that. I don't hold the contract. I'm just a salesman." the demon said.

"Oh, I know. Your boss, Lilith, holds it. And she wants my soul. Don't believe me. Ask her yourself." I said.

"My boss is none of your business." the demon said testily.

"Oh, sore subject?" I asked cheekily, "Well you gonna accept the deal or want to tell your boss that you let the soul she wants get away?"

"Fine, come back tomorrow. And you'll get your answer." The demon said.

"Can't do that. This is a one time deal." I replied.

"Fine, I accept your deal." The demon said, still miffed that I had one-upped her. We sealed the deal with a kiss and off she went. As I left in my car, a note appeared next to me from Lilith saying "Interesting. Your deal stands, so don't try wriggling out of it. You have whatever time Dean would've had left. Tell those two boys their souls are safe, from this deal. But to watch their backs this doesn't mean my minions will back down from doing their jobs anyway. Oh, and I'll be messing with Dean don't think he'll get off that easily. A girl's gotta have her fun.-Lilith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me about any grammar or such mistakes. Also spoiler, but this is the major character death mentioned. Am trying to stay as canonical as possible despite changing one of the biggest things in the season. Just changed the POV. Now beta'd by girl-next-door-writes.


	3. What Happens Next.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picks up right after you get the note. What happens over the next two months. What will happen when Dean learns you sold your soul for him? Will it be too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight spoiler, but I had already told you it would happen, this is the major character death that happens. Now beta'd by girl-next-door-writes.

I burned the note after reading it, then got on the road. On the way thinking about the boys I decided that I should have them give Claire a call. She might be able to help them after I die. Hopefully I could bring it up later without them realizing I had any ulterior motives. Sam needed someone, I knew what happened to his past girlfriends, we did share everything after all, but I also knew Alina well enough to know she could take care of herself. They would be hurting after I died but they could move on, Sam couldn't. He loves his brother too much. It's not like they love me or anything, I might practically be family, but they could live with me gone. Dean probably will blame himself but Claire will help him over that, probably by slapping him upside the head, but help anyways. Frankly, when Sam had spent the last 10 months trying to save Dean's life that none of the demons he had asked had told him about me. They might have known that Sam wouldn't have wanted to throw me under the bus so to speak but still. Lilith wanted me dead more than she wanted Dean.

The next two months got a little rough with Dean's carefree attitude and all his one night stands which only got worse with his end so near. I hated what it was doing to his brother but I could live with it knowing it would end soon. He would be alive and with his brother. As much as it killed me, I kinda hoped that he would get back with Lisa after I was gone. Sure I loved him, but I loved him enough to want him to move on. Even if it with Lisa, if she made him happy then he should go for it. It was about 30 hours until it was time. Sam, Dean, and I were all doing research on hell hounds and anything else we could get our hands on to help. I wished I could just tell them they didn't have to worry but knew they would then just be doing this same research to save me, they were stubborn like that. Dean had fallen asleep researching and was in the middle of a nightmare of hell hounds being after him. I knew because I had been having the same nightmare. Moments later he woke up, just as Sam walked in the room. 

"Dig up anything good?" Sam asked stopping in front of Dean sitting at the table, as I was sitting on the bed behind him.

"No, nothing good." Dean said clearing his throat as he closed the book in front of him.

"Well, Bobby has, finally." Sam said.

"Yeah?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. A way to find Lilith." Sam said looking happy for the first time in along time.

"Wow. With just, uh, 30 hours to go. Hey, why don't we just make a T.J. run, you know? Some senoritas, cervezas? We could-- What's Spanish for 'donkey show'?" Dean asked.

Sam chuckled. "So, if we do save you... let's never do that."

Dean just grunted and shrugged.

"Hey, hey Dean, um. Look, we're cutting it close, I know. But, we're gonna get this done. I don't care what it takes, Dean. You're not gonna go to hell. We're not gonna let you. I swear. Everything's gonna be okay." Sam said.

"Yeah, okay." Dean said.

We went to Bobby's to get Lilith's location. "So, you got a name? That's the whole kit and kaboodle. With the night name, the right ritual, ain't nothing you can't suss out." Bobby said as he set up the apparatus for the ritual.

"Like the town Lilith's in?" Sam asked.

"Kid, when I get done, we'll know the street." Bobby said as he started the ritual. "New Harmony, Indiana. And we have a winner."

"All right, let's go." Sam said grabbing the crystal used in the ritual.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Hold on. Just holster it up, there, Tex." Dean said.

"What's the problem?" Sam asked. 

"What's the problem'? Come on, where do I begin? I mean, first of all, we don't even know if Lilith actually holds my deal. We're just going off Bela's intel? Now, when that bitch breathes, the air come out crooked, okay? Second, even if we could get to Lilith, we have no way to gank her. And, third, isn't this the same Lilith that wants your giant head on a pike. Should I continue?" Dean said.

"Ain't you just bringing down the room?" Bobby asked.

"Well it's a gift." Dean said.

"I'm sorry. So, then, what are we supposed to do, Dean?" Sam asked.

"Well, just because I gotta die, doesn't mean that that you have to, okay? Either we go in smart, or we don't go in at all."

"Okay, fine. That's the case, I have the answer."

"You do?"

"Yeah. A surefire way to confirm it's Lilith, and a way to get us a bona fide demon-killing ginsu."

"Damn it, Sam, no."

"We are so past arguing. Dean, I am summoning Ruby."

"The hell you are! We got enough problems as it is."

"Exactly. And we got no time and no choice, either."

"Come on, man, she is the miss universe of lying skanks, okay? She told you that she could save me, huh? Lie! She seems to know everything about Lilith but oh right-- forgot to mention Lilith owns my soul!"

"Okay, fine, she's a liar. But she's got that knife."

"Dean?" Bobby tried to interrupt.

"For all we know, she works for Lilith."

"Then give me another option, Dean. I mean, tell me what else." Sam said. 

"Sam's right." Bobby said.

"No! Damn it!" Dean yelled. "Just no. We are not gonna make the same mistakes all over again. You guys want to save me, find something else." Dean finished quieter as he waled out the door with Sam and Bobby watching him leave.

"For what it's worth, I'm with Dean on this one. I don't think this is a good idea. I have a bad feeling about this. Last time that happened my parents ended up dying on that hunt. I'll come with if this happens, but I don't like it." I said following Dean upstairs.

"Where you going Bobby?" Sam asked hearing Bobby's coat rustle.

"I guess to... Find something else." Bobby answered as he put it on.

Sam sighed before leaving to go summon Ruby to go have a talk. Dean interrupted it. After they finished "chatting" with Dean getting the knife from her, and catching her in a devil's trap. Dean and Sam had a discussion about the continuous cycle of soul selling that had going and all that that entailed. I only know all this because I eavesdropped while doing a bit more research, all of this made me feel more guilty about not telling them about my new deal. After that Dean tried to get me to leave again then but I refused saying they were family. And family doesn't leave in the middle of trouble. That, and I was going whether they took me or not. We got in Baby and Dean tried to start the engine. Tried being the operative word, since it wouldn't start. Bobby knocked on the window making us jump as he held up an engine part.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bobby asked.

"We got the knife." Dean said as we had all gotten out of Baby.

"And you intend to use it without me? Do I look like a ditch-able prom date to you?" Bobby asked.

"No, Bobby, of course not." Sam said.

"This is about me, Sam and Darcy, okay? This isn't your fight." Dean said.

"The hell it isn't. Family don't end with blood, boy. Besides, you need me." Bobby said.

"Bobby..." Dean started.

"You're playing wounded. Tell me, how many hallucinations have you had so far?" Bobby asked.

"Dean shrugged and asked "How'd ya know?"

"Because that's what happens when ya got hell hounds on your butt, and because I'm smart. " Bobby said.

Both boys nodded. Bobby handed Dean back the part he had taken from Baby, as he said "I'll follow." before going to his car and yelling over his shoulder, "And don't be stopping to pee every ten minutes either."

As we drove to Lilith, Sam asked, "Hey, Dean?"

"Yeah?' Dean asked back.

"You know if this doesn't, uh, if this doesn't go the way we want, I want you to know that..." 

"No, no, no, no, no, no." Dean interrupted.

"No, what?" Sam asked. 

"You're not gonna bust out the misty goodbye speech, okay? I mean, if this is my last day on earth, I do not want it to be socially awkward." Dean said looking over at Sam. "You know what I do want?" Turning on the radio, as Bon Jovi's 'Wanted Dead or Alive' came on.

"Bon Jovi?" Sam asked.

"Bon Jovi rocks, on occasion." Dean replied before starting to sing along after glancing toward Sam, "Come on!" he said lightly punching Sam's arm trying to get him to join in. Sam started singing along as well.

A cop started following us with it's siren blaring. "We getting pulled over?" Sam asked looking slightly scared.

Dean checked his side view mirror, before replying, "I got a busted taillight. It's not like we're in a hurry or nothin'." Dean finished sarcastically as he pulled over turning off the car with the cop behind us. Sam got put the papers and handed them to Dean as he rolled down his window. The cop got out of his car

"Problem, officer?" Dean asked. 

"License and registration, please?" the cop asked as Dean handed the papers to him. "You do realize you have a taillight out, Mr. ... Hagar?" Dan looked up at the cop at the same time I did and saw his true face. I gave a small gasp, while Dean managed to look normal, only indication anything was off was a pause and a double glance.

"Yes. yes, sir. Uh, you know, I've been meaning to take care of that. As a matter of fact... " Dean replied as he quickly shoved his door open into the cop knocking the man over.

"Dean!" Sam called as Dean got out of the car and punched the man twice, and Sam got out on his side calling, "Dean!" again. Dean pulled Ruby's knife out of his back pocket as Sam called out "Whoa,! Whoa! Hey!" Dean stabbed the cop in the face through his neck making him light up showing that he was a demon as Sam got around to them. The demon fell down dead as Bobby's car drew up I got out of the car.

"What the hell happened?" Bobby asked as he ran over to us from his car.

"Dean just killed a demon." Sam replied. "How'd you know?"

"I just knew. I could see it's face, it's real face under that one." Dean replied.

"We pulled the cop and his car into the brush off the road and hid them. "So, what, now, you're seeing demons?" Sam asked.

"I've seen all kinds of things lately, but nothing like this." Dean replied.

"Actually, it's not all that crazy." Bobby said.

"How is it not all that crazy?" Dean asked.

"Well, you got just over five hours to go? You're piercing the veil, Dean, glimpsing the 'B' side." Bobby replied.

"Little less new age-y, please?" Dean asked.

"You're almost hell's bitch, so you can see hell's other bitches." Bobby replied, a look of recognition came into Dean's eyes.

"Thank you." Dean said sarcastically.

"It'll actually come in pretty handy." Sam said.

"Well, I'm glad my doomed soul's good for something." Dean said.

"Damn right it is. Lilith's probably got demons stashed all over town. We can't let 'em sound the alarm. If she knows we're here, we're dead before we started." Bobby said.

"Wow, this is a terrific plan. I'm excited to be a part of it." Dean said sarcastically. "Can we go, please?"

We stood outside the window of the house Lilith was staying in, watching a birthday party play out. "It's the little girl. God, her face is awful." Dean said.

"All right, then let's go. We're wasting time." Sam said.

"Wait!" Dean said.

"For what? For her to kill the rest of them?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, and us too if we're not careful. Look. See the real go-getter mailman on the clock at 9:00 p.m.? And Mr. Rogers over there?" Dean asked.

"Demons?" Bobby asked.

"Yes." Dean answered.

"Okay, fine, we ninja past those guys, sneak in." Sam said.

"And what, give a columbian necktie to a ten-year-old girl? Come on." Dean asked.

"Look, Dean, I know it's awful." Sam said.

"Ya think?" Dean asked. 

"This isn't just about saving you, Dean. This is about saving everyone." Sam replied.

"She's got to be stopped, son." Bobby said quietly. Dean looked at him, before turning back to the window.

"Oh, damn it." Dean muttered.

Dean caught the mailman's attention before running around the corner, the demon gave chase and impaled himself on Ruby's knife in Sam's hand. They covered his mouth then lowered him to the ground. Then we did the same thing to the neighbor and hid both bodies. We ran into Ruby when she tried to get her knife back, before we ran into a whole slew of demons after us. We all ran to the porch where Sam started to pick the lock while we waited on Bobby to finish making the holy water, turning the sprinklers into a demon fence. We stumbled into the house after Sam finally picked the lock.

"Do you think Lilith knows we're here?' Dean asked.

"Probably." Ruby answered. We stepped around the dead body in the entrance after looking around. We snuck into the living room and were snuck up on by the husband. Who we tried to convince to go to safety alone, but he refused to go without his wife. Dan knocked him out with one punch then moved him to the basement. Sam, Ruby, and I snuck upstairs and started checking rooms for Lilith. Sam almost killed the little girl she had inhabited but Dean stopped him saying that it wasn't Lilith anymore. The rest of the family got to safety in the basement with salted windows and doors. We couldn't find Lilith, so Sam tried to convince Ruby to teach him the trick to get rid of Lilith.

"Okay, you win. What do I have to do?" Sam asked Ruby, 

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked while she looked up at him incredulously. 

"To save Dean. What do you need me to do?" Sam asked.

Dean interjected with "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Just shut up for a second." Sam told Dean. "Ruby!"

"You had your chance. You can't just flip a switch. We needed time." Ruby said.

"Well, there's got to be something. There's got to be some way. Whatever it is, I'll do it." Sam said to Ruby. "Don't, Dean! I'm not gonna let you go to hell, Dean!"

"Yes, you are! Yes, you are. I'm sorry. I mean, this is all my fault. I know that. But what you're doing, it's not gonna save me. It's only gonna kill you." Dean told him.

"Then what am I supposed to do?' Sam asked him with tears in his eyes.

"Keep fighting. And take care of my wheels. Sam, remember what Dad taught you... okay?" Dean said. Sam nodded. "And remember what I taught you." Dean continued.

Both tried not to break down, yet the tears were visible in their eyes. I felt horrible keeping up this pretense with them so upset, but needed them distracted long enough to fulfill my end of the deal. The clock started to chime midnight, as they sadly smiled their goodbyes. We all looked to the clock watching the time slip away.

"I'm sorry, Dean. I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy." Ruby said.

The hell hounds started to growl and snarl as Dean looked over his shoulder at them. "Hell hound." he said. I refused to look not wanting to see it.

"Where?" Sam asked.

"There." Dean said. We froze staring as the hell hound stared at us. it barked at us as we ran for safety into the dining room. Sam, Ruby, and I held the doors closed as Dean laid down the gopher dust in front of it. The barking stopped, Dean paused then ran around to the window and did the same there. 

"Give me the knife. Maybe I can fight it off." Ruby told Sam. 

"What?" Sam asked.

"Come on! That dust won't last forever." Ruby said. Sam held the handle out toward Ruby.

"Wait!" Dean shouted.

"You want to die?" Ruby asked Dean.

"Sam, that's not Ruby. It's not Ruby!" Dean said.

Sam pulled his arm back to punch the demon, but she threw him into the wall. Then she threw Dean into the opposite wall, while I was thrown onto the table.

"How long you been in her?" Dean asked.

"Not long... but I like it. It's all grown-up and pretty." Lilith said showing her white eyes.

"Lilith!" I hissed.

"There's my little seer. Kinda surprised Dean's fake hell's bitch symptoms made him realize it was me before your sight did. Then again, I should've known, you've always been slow on the uptake. Couldn't even save your own parents." Lilith sneered.

"Where's Ruby?" Sam asked.

"She was a very bad girl, so I sent her far, far away." Lilith said her eyes turning back to normal.

"You know, I should have seen it before. But you all look alike to me." Dean said snidely. "And what do you mean 'fake hell's bitch symptoms'? And what's this about Darcy's 'sight'?" 

Lilith ignored his questions as she walked over to Sam, "Hello, Sam. I've wanted to meet you for a very long time." Lilith said then grabbed his chin and kissed him. "Your lips are soft."

"All right, so you have me. Let them go." I said.

"Silly goose. You want to bargain, you have to have something that I want." Lilith said clicking her tongue at me. "You don't."

"So, is this big plan, huh? Drag me to hell, kill Sam and Darcy, and then what... become queen bitch?" Dean asked.

"Weren't you listening? You're not going to hell, she is." Lilith said pointing at me on the table. "She summoned me, that's right I took your deal myself. Didn't want anyone messing it up." Lilith told me. "The deal says Sam doesn't die from the original wound, you get to keep your soul, and I get her soul. The hallucinations and what not were just fun, and kept you out of my hair." Lilith told Dean.

She walked over to the doors, leaving us stuck, as she opened the doors and said. "Sic her, boy." to the hell hound outside. The hell hound rushed in and dragged me off the table. I screamed as it's claws and teeth tore me apart. Lilith laughed at my pain.

"No! Stop! No! Stop it! No! Stop it!" Dean and Sam cried out. Lilith stopped laughing and stared at them, "Yes!" she said, holding up her hand to smite Sam. A bright light flashed from her hand, Sam cowered, but nothing happened to him. Looking frightened, Lilith lowered her hand, as Sam stood up walking toward her.

"Back! I said, back!" Lilith said raising her hand again. Nothing happened, and Sam continued to advance toward her. Picking her Ruby's knife, he held it up to kill her. "I don't think so." Sam told her. So, Lilith smoked out, her meat suit shrieking. My body lay dead. I was in hell, strung up screaming their names into the void around me.

\-----------------Dean's P.O.V.--------------------------  
She was dead, my best friend was dead. I now would never see her again, would never be able to see her smile, or laugh. Never tell how I feel, after I figured that out. Sam and I slowly walked over to her. A heart wrenching sound tore from my lips as I fell to my knees. Holding her tightly to my chest tears ran down my cheeks as I sobbed her name brokenheartedly, Sam joined me in my grief. Our best friend was gone.


	4. Lazarus Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when you come back? What happened while you gone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments please. Does anyone like this story? if you do please, give kudos and comments. Otherwise this story might never get finished. Sorry for the long wait, finally got around to writing after finals. Warning long chapter got away from me with how involved my OC is, with her taking over so much of Dean's part this took longer to write and have beta'd than I had originally anticipated. Also, whole story now beta'd by girl-next-door-writes.

The first thing I noticed was the cold. Then a closed in feeling, like I was in a box. The dark wrapped around me like a blanket, smothering and heavy. My mouth felt dry. I couldn't scream, my voice hoarse from disuse and dryness. All I could smell was dirt and decay. I had to get out. Panic was trying to set in. I pushed it away, knowing if it took over I would never get out. My nails broke as I ripped apart my coffin. The dirt felt cool against my heated skin as it fell, and tasted bitter as I spit it out. I crawled up, at least I hoped it was up. I couldn't let myself think any differently. It felt like it took days, but finally I made it to the surface. After ripping the box apart and digging my way through six feet of dirt I was finally free. Pulling myself free from my grave I lay for a moment catching my breath feeling the sun on my face for the first time in a long time.

Standing up I looked around, I stood in the middle of what looked like a disaster area. Trees were uprooted and lay flat in a giant circle surrounding me. The only things left standing nearby were me and the crude cross marking my grave. I started walking and came across a road at the end of which sat a fill-up joint. Hoping for something to drink and eat I made it my destination for the moment. The heat rose in waves reminding me things best left forgotten. The building looked abandoned, even with the car parked close by. I knocked and tried to call out a hello, but my voice rebelled. Seeing no one, I broke one of the windows on the door and let myself in. Spotting a cold storage cabinet I moved towards it for the water which beckoned me forward. I grabbed a bottle and chugged half before coming up for air. A nearby newspaper caught my eye, the date told me it was now September which explained the heatwaves. It also meant I had been gone about four months, making it forty years in hell. Tucking that thought away I walked over to wash my face in the backroom. Staring in the mirror, I remembered the attack and lifted my shirt to see that not a mark was left. Curious, I examined the rest of my body to find that all my old scars had vanished. Healed as if they had never happened. The only marks I had were my old angel wings tattoo on my back that reached my butt, my anti possession tattoo I had gotten at 18 which was nestled between my wings, and a new mark on my shoulder of a hand print. It stung, from what I remembered of my research it appeared that I had been touched by an angel since the mark resembled what happened when an angel's grace touched a human. It seems that I had been rescued from hell by an angel. It didn't make sense why I had been saved, sure I was the Seer, but I also was just a hunter. Surely someone else could take my place. But for now the why's would have to wait. Right now I needed food. It was going to be a long drive to Bobby's once I figured out where I was. 

Grabbing food, more water, and some Gatorade, I stuffed it all in a grocery sack I had found as I chewed on a granola bar. I was ravaging the cash register for money, when the television came on with static. Looking over at it with suspicion, I turned it off only for the radio to come on, blaring some old country station. As I turned to look at it, the television came on again and a high pitched ringing started. Now I was worried, not knowing what to expect. Stuffing the money into my pocket, I looked for salt to pour down along the windows and doors. I had started to pour when the ringing intensified. I barely managed to finish one window when I had to cover my ears as the windows began to crack and break.. Ducking and covering my head for a moment I crouched and ran over to the counter. By now all the windows were broken and the floor covered in glass. The ringing mercifully stopped and I was able to stand up and look around.

Grabbing my bag, I stumbled out the door over to the payphone to call someone, anyone who would pick up. Sam's and Dean's numbers had been disconnected, but I finally got Bobby on the line. 

"Yeah?" Bobby asked when he answered the phone.

"Bobby?" I asked hoarsely.

"Yeah."

"It's me." 

"Who's 'me' ?" Bobby asked confused. 

"Darcy." He hung up, a dial tone in my ear. I rang again.

"Who is this?" 

"Bobby, listen to me," I started.

"This ain't funny. Call again and I'll kill you." He said with quiet anger in his voice, hanging up again. Looking at the phone in disbelief I shook my head and hung it up. The car from earlier caught my eye again, realizing it would have to be my transportation outta here. I hot wired the car, with my bag beside me. The car sputtered then started and I got on the road to Bobby's. Once I got there, I knocked on the door, and looked up at Bobby's face.

"Surprise!" I said weakly. 

"I don't..." he started.

"Yeah, me neither. But here I am." I said walking inside.

Bobby's hand closed around the silver knife which he swung toward my face. I just managed to catch his arm and swing it past me using his momentum against him before pulling his arm behind his back. He punched me, causing me to stumble away.

"Bobby, it's me." I said.

"My ass." He replied as he advance with the knife ready.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait!" I said, pulling a chair in between us. "Your name is Robert Steven Singer. You became a hunter after your wife got possessed. You're about the closest thing I have to a father. Bobby... it's me." I said crouching behind the chair. As I spoke I slowly stood up, but kept my hands raised toward him to show that I was unarmed. Bobby still was looking at me in disbelief and shock as he slowly moved forward, pushing the chair away and hesitantly put one hand on my shoulder. I weakly smiled before he tried to attack me again and I pulled the same move on him.

"I'm not a shapeshifter." I said.

"Then you're a revenant." He replied as I pried the knife from his grasp before pushing him away.

"If I was either, would I do this with a silver knife?" I asked as I slid it across the skin just below my elbow crease. 

Bobby looked at me slightly confused with some relief as he asked, "Darcy?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you." I said taking a few steps toward him. Breathing heavily, Bobby enfolded me in a bear hug like he never wanted to let go. I hugged back with the same desperation. We let go and looked into each other's eyes to make sure we were still us.

"It's... It's good to see you, girl." he said.

"Yeah, you too." I said.

"But... How did you bust out?" he asked.

"I don't know. I just, uh... woke up in a pine bo... "I didn't finish the word because just then Bobby splashed me with holy water. Looking done, I just kept my eyes closed before blinking and spitting out what had landed in my mouth. "I'm not a demon, either, ya know."

"Sorry." Bobby said holding the now empty bottle. "Can't be too careful." 

After telling Bobby what happened and drying my face, we walked to the dining room to sit down. I hadn't told him the angel theory yet since I wasn't completely sold on it. It didn't make sense yet, sure I was important, but I didn't think I was important enough to pull out of hell.

"That don't make a lick of sense." Bobby said.

"Yeah, yeah, you're preaching to the choir." I said.

"Darcy, your chest was ribbons, your insides were slop, and you'd been buried four months. Even if you could slip out of hell, and back into your meatsuit..." Bobby said.

"I know. I should look like a 'thriller' video reject." I said.

"What do you remember?"

"Not much. I remember I was a hell hounds chew toy... then lights-out. Then I come to six feet under. That was it. Sam's and Dean's numbers aren't working. They're, uh... They're not... " I asked, Bobby had already sunk into his chair by now.

"Oh, they're alive, as far as I know." 

"Good. Wait, what do you mean... as far as you know?"

"I haven't talked them for months." 

"You're kidding? You just let them go off by themselves?"

"They were dead set on it."

"Bobby, you should have been looking after them."

"I tried. These last months haven't exactly been easy, ya know. For them, or me. We had to bury you."

"Why did you bury me anyway?"

"I wanted you salted and burned, usual drill, but Dean wouldn't have it."

"Well, I'm glad he won that one."

"He said you'd need a body when he got you back home somehow. That's about all he said." 

"What do you mean?"

"He was quiet... real quiet. Then they just took off. Wouldn't return my calls. I tried to find 'em, but they don't want to be found."

"Oh, damn it, boys.

"What?"

"Sure he got me home okay. But whatever he did, it is bad mojo. "

"What makes you so sure?"

"You should have seen the grave site. It was like a nuke went off. Then there was this, this force, this presence, that I don't know. But it, it blew past me at a fill-up joint. And then this." I said as I took off my outer shirt, and pulled up my left sleeve. Bobby stared at the mark on my arm, as he stood up and walked around the desk to me.

"What in the hell?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah, it's like a demon just yanked me out, or rode me out."

"But why?"

"To hold up their end of the bargain."

"You think Dean made a deal?"

"Or Sam. It's what I would have done. Hell, it's what I have done. But I don't think it was Dean, Lilith wouldn't've wanted his soul once she had mine.

Pacing I dialed the cellphone company’s number

"Yeah, hi. I have a, uh, cellphone account with y'all, and, uh, lost my phone. I was wondering if y'all could turn the GPS on for me. Yeah, the name's 'Wedge Antilles'. Social is 2474. Thank you." I said while on the phone with the cellphone company. I hung up, put it down, and walked over to the computer.

"How'd you know he'd use that name?" Bobby asked.

"You kidding me? What don't I know about that kid?" I asked bringing up the search engine to look up where he was. "Hey, Bobby. What's the deal with the liquor store, hmm? You're parents out of town or something?"

"Like I said, the last few months ain't been all that easy."

"Right. Sam's in Pontiac, Illinois."

"Right near where you were planted."

"Right where I popped up. Hell of a coincidence, don't ya think? You ever get a call through to Dean?"

"Yeah, a few days before this radio silence. Gave him a call about a hunt I though he might wanna take. Thought he might do better if he kept busy. He probably just finished. Let's go there first."

We knocked on the door of Dean's room in a cheap motel where he was staying in Pontiac, Illinois, just like Sam.

"Hey Dean." I said when he answered the door. He just stood there stunned, Brushing past him, I stepped in the room. Once I had crossed the threshold he attacked me with a silver knife. I yelled, "It's really me," as I grabbed his arm to stop him.

"It's really Darcy, Dean." Bobby said grabbing him from behind, keeping him immobile. "I ran all the tests."

"It's really me." I said as Dean continued to stare.

"You... But how..." he started.

"I'm alive, I don't know how. But I'm alive." I said. Dean stepped toward me, while Bobby held his knife after letting go of him. He enveloped me a bear hug cutting off my air, but I was so happy to see him again that I didn't care. "Did you sell your soul to save mine?"

"No." He said, stepping back but still holding onto my arms as if afraid if he left go I might vanish. I looked in his eyes to see if he was lying to me, he wasn't.

"Good." I said. How could you have been so stupid. I had the deal, it was fine. Why'd you have to go and sell your own soul?" Dean asked.

"It was my contract in the first place. You know how she mentioned something about a Seer? Well, that's me. I'm completely human I just can see monsters true faces. I don't know how, but I have been able to do so since I was born. It's why my parents became hunters. It's why Lilith wanted my soul. I'm apparently an important weapon for either side. With my soul, Lilith could do what she wanted, like start the Apocalypse. It was my soul she wanted because with me out of the way, they have a better chance of winning, especially if they had been able to break me and get me on their side." I said. I had explained all of this to Bobby before we left.

"It still was stupid, I had it handled." Dean said.

"I know, but I couldn't let you die when your soul was not supposed to be on the line. Mine was. Couldn't let you die to save me, even if you didn't know that's what you were doing. Now let's go find Sammy." I said.

In Pontiac, Illinois, we found the motel he was staying in. When we got to the room, 207, and knocked a girl answered the door. Looking back, I'm not sure why I couldn't tell she was Ruby, much less a demon, but I guess my vision was still a little fried from the quick trip back to Earth, and that weird visit at the filling station.

"So, where is it?" she asked.

Bobby and I looked at each other confused, then I asked, "Where's what?"

"The pizza that it takes three people to deliver." she said.

"I think we got the wrong room." I said

"Hey, is... " A shirtless Sam started as he walked around the corner into view. Stopped and stared at me in amazement and disbelief.

"Heya, Sammy." I said as we continued to stare at each other. I walked in the room as the girl stepped aside to let me in. Sam came at me with a silver knife. I yelled as I grabbed his arm and slammed it into the wall. Bobby grabbed his arm keeping it in a choke hold. The girl screamed as Sam yelled "Who are you?!"

"Like you didn't do this!" I yelled back.

"Do what?!" Sam yelled.

"It's her. It's her, Sam. I've been through this already. It's really her. " Bobby assured Sam , while keeping a hold of him.

"But... " Sam started.

"I know. I look fantastic, huh?" I said.

Sam hugged me so hard I started to have trouble breathing but it was fine since I was hugging him just as hard back. Sam was sniffling as I buried my face in his chest, and closed my eyes to breathe him in.

"So, are you two, like... together?" the girl asked.

"What? No. No. She's my sister." Sam said as I looked at her funny.

"O-oh. Got it. I, I guess... " she said hesitantly. "Look I should probably go."

"Yeah, yeah. That's probably a good idea. Sorry." Sam said.

The girl got dressed and grabbed her stuff. As she left, she turned to the now dressed Sam and said, "So, call me."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure thing, Kathy." Sam said leaning against the door frame.

"Kristy." she said her smile falling.

"Right." Sam said as he continued to smile at her. She looked down bashfully before turning to go. Sam closed the door then turned to us. 

"So, tell me, what'd it cost?" I asked Sam as he sat down and started putting on his shoes.

"The girl?" Sam chuckled, "I don't pay, Darce."

"That's not funny, Sam. To bring me back. What'd it cost. Was it just your soul, or was it something worse?" I asked.

"You think I made a deal?" Sam asked.

"That's exactly what we think." Bobby said.

"Well, I didn't." Sam said.

"Don't lie to me." I said.

"I'm not lying." Sam said.

"So, what now? I'm off the hook, and you're on, is that it? You're some demon's bitch boy. I didn't want to be saved like this." I told him.

"Look, Darce, I wish I had done it, all right?" Sam said angrily as he stood up.

"There's no other way that this could have gone down. Now tell the truth!" I shouted, grabbing the front of his shirt.

"I tried everything. That's the truth. I tried opening the devil's gate. Hell, I tried to bargain, Darce, but no demon would deal, all right? You were rotting in hell, for months... for months... and I couldn't stop it. So, I'm sorry it wasn't me, all right? Darcy, I'm sorry." Sam said, breaking my grip.

"It's okay , Sammy. You don't have to apologize. I believe you." I relented.

"Don't get me wrong... I am glad Sam's soul remains intact, but but that does raise a sticky question." Bobby said.

"If he didn't pull me out, then what did?"

Sam grabbed our beers, as I sat on the coffee table and Dean and Bobby sat on the couch. Once drinks were handed out he sat across from me on the bed.

"So what were you doing around here, if you weren't digging me out of my grave?" I asked

"Well, once I figured out I couldn't save you, um... I started hunting down Lilith, trying to get some payback" Sam said

"All by yourself? Who do you think you are, your old man?" Bobby asked.

"Uh... Yeah, I'm sorry Bobby. I, I should have called. I was pretty messed up." Sam said.

"Oh, yeah. I really feel your pain." I said holding up a bra.

Sam chuckles "Anyways, uh, I was checking these demons out of Tennessee, and out of nowhere they took a hard left, booked up here." Sam said.

"When?" Dean asked.

"Yesterday morning." Sam said.

"When I busted out." I said.

"You think these demons are here 'cause of you?" Bobby asked. I shrugged.

"But why?" Sam asked.

"Well, I don't know. Some badass demon drags me out, and now this? It's got to be connected somehow." I said.

"How you feeling, anyway?" Bobby asked.

"I'm a little hungry." I said.

"No, I mean, do you feel like yourself? Anything strange or different?" Bobby asked.

"Or demonic? Bobby, how many times do I have to prove I'm me?" I asked

"Yeah, well, listen... no demon's letting you loose out of the goodness of their hearts. They gotta have something nasty planned." Bobby said.

"Well, I feel fine." I said.

"Okay, look, we don't know what they're planning. We got a pile of questions and no shovel. We need help." Sam said.

"I know a psychic a few hours from here. Something this big, maybe she's heard the other side talking." Bobby said.

"Hell, yeah. It's worth a shot." Dean said. 

"I'll be right back." Bobby said, as he left.

Darcy stood up as if to leave.

"Hey, wait. What was it like?" Sam asked, as he stood up.

"What, Hell? I don't know, I, I must have blacked it out. I don't remember a damn thing." I said. 

"Well, thank God for that." Sam said, nodding.

"Yeah."

I walked into the motel bathroom, and flipped on the light. Staring at myself in the mirror, I ran a hand over my chin and leaned forward on the sink. Flashes of hell ran through my mind. Screams, my own and others, mixed as they rang in my head. Pain coursed through my body as I remembered, everything. I pulled back from the mirror and blinked in confusion at my reflection.

Bobby led us down a set of steps into the motel's parking lot. "She's about four hours down the interstate. Try to keep up." he said as he got in his car."

Dean got in and turned on Baby, as Sam got in the passengers, and I slid in the back.

"There's still one thing that's bothering me." I said.

"Yeah?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, the night that I bit it. Or... got bit. How'd you make it out? I thought Lilith was going to kill you."

"Yeah, I was wondering that too." Dean said.

"Well, she tried. She couldn't" Sam said.

"What do you mean, she couldn't?" I asked.

"She fired this, like, burning light at me, and... didn't leave a scratch. Like I was immune or something."

"Immune?"

"Yeah. I don't know who was more surprised, her or me. She left pretty fast after that."

"Huh. What about Ruby, where is she?"

"Dead. For now."

Dean bit his lip, not sure if he wanted to ask. "So you've been using your, uh, freaky ESP stuff?"

"No." Sam said.

"You sure about that? Well, I mean, now that you've got... immunity, whatever the hell that is... just wondering what other kind of weirdo crap you've got going on." Dean asked.

"Nothing, Dean. Look, you didn't want me to go down that road, so I didn't go down that road. It was practically your dying wish. Even if you weren't the one to die. We might not have kept in touch recently, but I kept my word."

"Yeah, well, let's keep it that way."

We knocked on Pamela the psychic's door, and she opens it. She is in her thirties, strong and beautiful with a ready smile. "Bobby!" She grabs him into a hug, lifting him briefly off the ground. I looked on amused, as Sam and Dean share a look.

"You're a sight for sore eyes." Bobby said.

Pamela steps back and looks Sam and Dean up and down appraisingly. "So, these the boys?"

"Sam, Dean. This is Pamela Barnes, best damn psychic in the state. And Darcy, you've met."

"Hey." Dean flirted.

"Hi." Sam said awkwardly.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm. Darcy Singer. Out of the fire and back in the frying pan, huh? Makes you a rare individual."

"If you say so."

"Come on in."

Pamela ushers them in, first Bobby, then Dean, then Sam, and finally me, and shuts the door behind them. 

"So, you hear anything?" bobby asked.

"Well, I Ouija'd my way through a dozen spirits. No one seems to know who broke your girl out, or why." Pamela said.

"So what's next?"

"A séance, I think. See if we can see who did the deed."

"You're not gonna... summon the damn thing here."

"No. I just want to get a sneak peek at it. Like a crystal ball without the crystal."

"I'm game" I said.

Pamela spread a black tablecloth covered in symbols over a small table. Sam and Dean looked at it warily; Dean cocked his head as Pamela squatted in front of a cabinet, which revealed a scrawled tattoo across her lower back that read: Jesse Forever

"Who's Jesse?" He asked.

"Well, it wasn't forever." She replied.

"His loss."

Pamela stood with several pillar candles in her hands, stopped in front of Dean with a smirk. "Might be your gain."

As she passes by, Dean turned to Sam and lowered his voice. "Dude, I am so in."

"Yeah, she's gonna eat you alive."Sam replied.

"Bring it."

Pamela passed by again, and said to Sam with a wink, "You're invited too, grumpy."

"You are NOT invited."

Pamela, Bobby, Sam, Dean, and I are seated around the small table, which now has six lighted candles in the center. "Right. Take each other's hands" Pamela said, which we did. "And I need to touch something our mystery monster touched."

Pamela slid her hand along my inner thigh. I jumped. "Whoa. Well, he didn't touch me there" I said with a wink.

"My mistake."

I look around, nervous, then takes off my outer shirt, pulls up my left t-shirt sleeve to reveal the brand. Sam stared at it, shocked, looks at Bobby. Pamela laid her hand on the brand.

"Okay." We all close our eyes as Pamela began to chant "I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle." A television flickered on to static; she continued "I invoke, conjure, and command... Castiel? No. Sorry, Castiel, I don't scare easy."

"Castiel?" I asked.

"Its name. It's whispering to me, warning me to turn back." White noise and static continued, and the table began to shake) "I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face.

As the white noise and rattling became more violent. "Maybe we should stop." Bobby said.

"I almost got it. I command you, show me your face! Show me your face now!" Pamela said. Suddenly the candles flared up several feet in the air and Pamela began to scream. Her eyes flew open and were filled with a white-hot flame. She collapsed; the rattling, white noise, and flames died out.

Bobby caught her and lowered her to the floor. "Call 9-1-1!" 

Sam scrambled out of his chair and into the next room. Dean and I crouched over Pamela and Bobby. She was conscious, but bleeding and burned. Her eyelids flew open to reveal black, empty sockets. She sobbed.

"I can't see! I can't see! Oh god!"

In the next room, Sam called for an ambulance.

As we sat in Johnny Mac's Diner, Dean gave his order to the waitress. "Be up in a jiff" She said. 

As she leaves, Sam entered, talking on his cell phone. "You bet." He said as he sat.

"What'd Bobby say?" Dean asked.

"Pam's stable. And out of I.C.U." Sam said.

"And blind, because of us" I said.

"And we still have no clue who we're dealing with." Sam said.

"That's not entirely true." I said.

"No?"

"We got a name. Castiel, or whatever. With the right mumbo-jumbo we could summon him, bring him right to us."

"You're crazy. Absolutely not."

"We'll work him over. I mean, after what he did?"

"Pam took a peek at him and her eyes burned out of her skull, and you want to have a face to face?"

"You got a better idea?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do. I followed some demons to town, right?"

"Okay."

"So, we go find them. Someone's gotta know something about something."

The waitress reappears with two plates of pie. She sets them on the table.

"Thanks." Sam said.

The waitress then plopped down in a chair at the end of the table. Dean looked at her, smirking.

"You angling for a tip?" Dean asked.

"I'm sorry. Thought you were looking for us." She said. Her eyes went demon-black for a moment; a uniformed man by the counter and a cook behind the counter also showed the demon-black; the uniformed man went to the door, locked it, and stood in front of it.

Eyes going back to normal. "Darcy. To hell and back. Aren't you a lucky duck." She said.

"That's me"

"So you get to just stroll out of the pit, huh? Tell me. What makes you so special?"

"I like to think it's because of my perky nipples. I don't know. Wasn't my doing, I don't know who pulled me out."

"Right. You don't."

"No. I don't."

"Lying's a sin, you know."

"I'm not lying. But I'd like to find out, so if you wouldn't mind enlightening me, Flo..."

"Mind your tone with me, girl. I'll drag you back to hell myself."

Sam, who has been staring daggers at her through this exchange, shifted as if to attack. Dean held a hand up and Sam stopped, settling back into his seat

"No, you won't."

"No?"

"No. Because if you were you would have done it already. Fact is, you don't know who cut me loose. And you're just as spooked as we are. And you're looking for answers. Well, maybe it was some turbo-charged spirit. Or, uh, Godzilla. Or some big bad boss demon. I'm guessing at your pay grade that they don't tell you squat. Because whoever it was, they want me out. And they're a lot stronger than you. So go ahead. Send me back. But don't come crawling to me when they show up on your front doorstep with some Vaseline and a fire hose."

"I'm going to reach down your throat and rip out your lungs."

I leaned forward, a challenge in my eyes. I threw a right hook at her, which she takes. I threw another. She still does nothing but glare at them, looking more and more nervous.

"That's what I thought. Let's go, Dean and Sam." I said. We stand, and the demon sits there, fuming. Dean pulled a roll of cash out of his pocket and carefully peels off a ten dollar bill. He holds it up and drops it on the table like an insult.

"For the pie." Dean said

We stalked out of the diner, tense and quick.

"Holy shit, that was close." I said

"We're not just going to leave them in there, are we, Dean?" Sam asked.

"Well yeah, there's three of them, probably more, and we've only got one knife between us."

"I've been killing a lot more demons than that lately."

"Not anymore – the smarter brother's back in town."

"Dean, we've got to take 'em. They are dangerous."

"They're scared. Okay? Scared of whatever had the juice to yank me out. We're dealing with a bad mofo here. One job at a time."

Back at the motel, I heard Sam sneak out and drive away in Baby when I was in the shower. He was leaving to go back to Ruby. I could see her influence staining his bright soul. As I walked back into the room, brushing my hair, I saw Dean dozing on the couch with a large book open in his lap. Suddenly, the television flickered onto the now-familiar static, and the radio started whining as well. Dean started and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and rolled quickly to grab a shotgun that lying by the bed. He looked around cautiously focusing on Sam's empty bed. He grimaced. The painfully high-pitched noise began again, and he grabbed his right ear, keeping the weapon up in his left hand. A mirror on the ceiling shattered and rained broken glass down on him, causing him hunch over and crawl over to me. He tackled my body to the floor from the bed where I was sitting, when all the glass in the room shattered explosively. He screamed. My silent scream tore out of my throat as words tried to form in my mind, but the pain from the voice shattered all semblance of concentration. Bobby burst into the room as more glass shattered.

"Dean! Darce!" Bobby yelled.

Bobby drove his car as Dean sat in the passenger's seat and I sat in the back, wiping blood from our faces."

"How you doin', kid?" Bobby asked.

"Aside from the church bells ringing in my head, peachy." I said

"Same here." Dean said, "Was that really what you heard at the fill-up joint?"

"Yeah." I replied dully, still shaking my head trying to make sense of the few words I could remember from the high-pitched noise still ringing in my ears.

"Amazing you didn't go deaf."

"Yep."

Dean pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. Sam picked up.

"Hey" Dean greeted.

"What are you doing?" I could faintly hear Sam ask.

"Couldn't sleep, went to get a burger."

"In my car?"

"Force of habit, sorry. What are you doing up?"

"Well, uh, Bobby's back. We're going to grab a beer." On Bobby's shocked look, Dean held up a finger.

"All right, well, uh, spill some for me, huh?"

"Done. Catch you later." Dean hung up.

"Why the hell didn't you tell him?" Bobby asked.

"Because he just tried to stop us." Dean replied.

"From what?"

"Summoning this thing." Dean said, as Bobby looked at him in shock. Again. "It's time we faced it head-on."

"You can't be serious!" Bobby exclaimed.

"As a heart attack. It's high noon, baby."

"I agree with Dean on this one." I piped up finally getting out of my head long enough to listen.

"Well, we don't know what it is. It could be a demon, it could be anything." Bobby said.

"That's why we've got to be ready for anything." He pulled out Ruby's demon-killing knife. "We've got the big-time magic knife, you've got an arsenal in the trunk."

"This is a bad idea."

"Yeah, I couldn't agree more, but what other choice do we have?"

"We could choose life"

"Bobby, whatever this is, whatever it wants, it's after me. That much we know, right? I've got no place to hide. I can either get caught with my pants down again, or we can make our stand." I said.

"Dean, we could use Sam on this." Bobby said.

"Nah, he's better off where he is." Dean replied.

At the diner, Sam eased into the darkened diner and slipped his lock-picking tools into his shirt pocket. A song was playing on the jukebox. He snuck in quietly, saw the cook from earlier face-down on the floor, his hands bloody. Sam crouched to turn the man over; he was dead, his eyes burned out and drying blood caked on his cheeks. Sam stood up. Just as he turned a figure tackled him from the side – it was the demon waitress from earlier. She landed up on his stomach and punched him five times in the face, alternating arms. He retaliated by headbutting her three times and finally threw her off of him. They staggered to their feet. She punched him again so he grabbed her head and kneed her in the face, and in the stomach before shoving her away. They both stood to ready fighting stances which finally gave Sam a good look at her. She too had empty, burned out eye sockets and blood trickling down her face. She looked both terrifying and terrified.

"Your eyes." Sam said.

"I can still smell your soul a mile away." She replied.

"It was here. You saw it."

"I saw it." She sobbed.

"What was it?"

"It's the end. We're dead. We're all dead."

"What did you see?" Sam insisted.

"Go to hell."

"Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you."

Sam stepped back, planted his feet, and shut his eyes in concentration. He extended his right hand toward the demon. Her body heaved and she brought her hand up toward her mouth. Black smoke began to sputter from her mouth, she choked and held her throat with both hands as more smoke was ripped from her throat. The waitress fell to her knees as the black smoke coiled around her on the floor; in seconds, she had collapsed completely as the demon was sucked down into the Pit. Sam opened his eyes and crossed to the woman on the floor. He checked her pulse, then sighed in disappointment.

"Damn it."

The kitchen door opened and a woman came out. He looked up, apparently not surprised to see her. It was the girl who opened the door to Sam's hotel room.

"Getting pretty slick there, Sam. Better all the time." She said.

Sam stood and they shared a smoldering look. He looked down at the corpse at his feet, and his face fell.

"What the hell is going on around here, Ruby?"

"I wish I knew." The girl who apparently was Ruby said."

"We were thinking some high level demon pulled Dean out."

"No way. Sam, human souls don't just walk out of Hell and back into their bodies easy. The sky bleeds, the ground quakes. It's cosmic. No demon can swing that. Not Lilith, not anybody."

"Then what can?"

Nothing I've ever seen before."

Later that night in a warehouse, Bobby drew a symbol with white spray paint on the cement floor. As he stood, I looked and saw that the entire floor, walls, and ceiling of the empty rectangular warehouse had been covered in similar images.

Dean and I stood by a table, setting up equipment. "That's a hell of an art project you've got going there." He said. I stayed silent, since my angel theory was seeming more and more credible, but I didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong.

"Traps and talismans from every faith on the globe. How you doin?"

"Stakes, iron, silver, salt, knife. I mean, we're pretty much set to catch and kill anything I've ever heard of." Dean replied.

"This is still a bad idea."

"Yeah, Bobby, we heard you the first ten times. What do you say we ring the dinner bell?" Dean asked, so Bobby nodded reluctantly. He went over to another desk, took a pinch of some powder from a bowl, and sprinkled it into a larger bowl, which began to smoke. He began to chant in Latin.

Back at the diner, Ruby and Sam were seated across from each other at a small table. "So. Million dollar question, are you going to tell Dean about what we're doing?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just gotta figure out the right way to say it." Ruby gave him a look, "Look, I just need time, okay? That's all."

"Sam, he's going to find out, and if it's not from you he's going to be pissed."

"He's going to be pissed anyway. I mean, he's so hardheaded about this psychic stuff he'll just try and stop me."

"Look. Maybe I'll just take a step back for a while."

"Ruby, you..."

"I mean, I'm not exactly in your brother's fanclub. But he is your brother, and I'm not going to come between you."

"I don't know if what I'm doing is right. Hell, I don't even know if I trust you."

"Thanks." Ruby replied sarcastically.

"But what I do know is that I'm saving people. And stopping demons. And that feels good. I want to keep going."

Back at the warehouse, Dean, Bobby, and I are seated on tables, swinging our legs and looking bored.

"You sure you did the ritual right?" Dean asked, to which Bobby gives him a look. "Sorry. Touchy, touchy, huh?" As if on cue, a loud rattling shakes the roof. Dean, Bobby, and I armed ourselves with shotguns and took positions at the far end of the warehouse.

"Wishful thinking, but maybe it's just the wind." Dean said.

The door burst open and a handsome man in a business suit and trenchcoat stalks in Castiel. The light bulbs above his head shattered in a shower of sparks as he passed them. As he approached, Dean and Bobby both open fire, but the shots do not even slow him down. I stood there in astonishment at his wings which I could see raised in what was easily recognizable as a battle stance. They were so large and dark. Exactly like birds wings, and yet nothing like them. They were so obviously angel wings, the wings of a warrior. Dean took the magic knife as Castiel got close.

"Who are you?" I asked, finally finding my voice.

"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition." Castiel answered as he stood in front of me.

"Yeah. Thanks for that."

Dean stepped in front of me, reared back and plunged the magic knife into Castiel's chest. Castiel looked down, unconcerned, and pulled it out, and dropped it to the floor. Behind him, Bobby attacked; without looking, Castiel grabbed Bobby's weapon and used it to swing him around. Castiel touched him on the forehead with fingertips and Bobby crumpled to the ground. Turning back to Dean, Castiel did the same thing. I looked on nervously.

"We need to talk, Darcy. Alone."

I crouched over Bobby and Dean, checking their pulses. I glared up at Castiel. "There was no needed to do that.

"Your friends are alive"

"Who are you?"

"Castiel."

"Yeah, I figured that much, I mean what are you?"

"I'm an Angel of the Lord."

"So I was right. Well, some angel you are. You burned out that poor woman's eyes."

"I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be... overwhelming to humans, and so can my real voice. But you already knew that."

"You mean the gas station and the motel. That was you talking?" Castiel nods.) "Buddy, next time, lower the volume. I could hear, just had trouble making out words. Too much time spent in hell is making it hard to hear you like that."

"That was my mistake. Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong."

"Not so much wrong as my Sight seems to be malfunctioning. So what visage are you in now, huh? What, holy tax accountant?"

"This? This is... a vessel."

"You're possessing some poor bastard?"

"He's a devout man, he actually prayed for this."

"Right. Why would an angel rescue me from Hell?"

"Good things do happen, Darcy."

"Not in my experience." I said darkly, with my jaw clenched.

"What's the matter? You don't think you deserve to be saved." Castiel said, tilting his head with a slightly confused look on his face.

With a slight snort I asked him, "Why'd you do it?"

"Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you." Castiel lowered his head looking down at me with a serious look. We continued to stare at each other, as an incredulous look stole over my face.


	5. Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The episode with obvious canon-divergence and the first introduction to Alina (Darcy's sister) possibly joining them.

In Bobby's house, Bobby sat at his desk with a pile of books in front of him, Sam sat in a chair in the opposite corner talking to Dean, who was standing. I stood next to Bobby looking at my own pile of books.

"Well, then tell me what else it could be." Sam said.

"Look, all I know is she was not groped by an angel." Dean said.

"Okay, look, Dean. Why do you think this Castiel would lie to her about it?"

"Maybe he's some kind of demon. Demons lie."

Bobby looked up from his books at the boys; I continued to ignore them.

"A demon who's immune to salt rounds and devil's traps... and Ruby's knife? Dean, Lilith is scared of that thing!" Sam exclaimed as Dean picked up a slice of pizza from the box on the counter, smelled it, and tossed it back.

"Don't you think that if angels were real, that some hunter somewhere would have seen one... at some point... ever?"

"Yeah. She just did, Dean." Sam sighed, exasperated.

"I'm trying to come up with a theory here. Okay? Work with me."

"Dean, we have a theory."

"Yeah, one with a little less fairy dust on it, please." Dean said, stalking back to Sam's chair.

"Okay, look. I'm not saying we know for sure. I'm just saying that I think we --"

"Okay, okay. That's the point. We don't know for sure, so I'm not gonna believe that this thing is a freaking Angel of the Lord because it says so!"

"You two chuckleheads want to keep arguing religion, or do you want to come take a look at this?"

Sam and Dean walked over to Bobby's desk.

"I got stacks of lore -- Biblical, pre-Biblical. Some of it's in damn cuneiform. It all says an angel can snatch a soul from the pit." Bobby said.

"What else?" Dean asked.

"What else, what?"

"What else could do it?"

"Airlift her ass out of the hot box? As far as I can tell, nothing." Bobby said, leaning back in his chair.

"He's right, I've studied this lore a thousand times. There's nothing else." I said looking up at them.

"Dean, this is good news." Sam said.

"How?" Dean asked.

"Because for once, this isn't just another round of demon crap. I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys, you know?"

"Okay. If there are angels, and one of them saved me. Then what? There's a God?" I asked.

"At this point, Vegas money's on yeah." Bobby said.

"I don't know, guys." I said.

"Okay, look. I know you're not all choirboy about this stuff, but this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof." Sam said.

"Proof?" I asked.

"Yes."Sam said.

"Proof that there's a God out there that actually gives a crap about me personally? I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it."

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"Because why me? If there is a God out there, why would he give a crap about me?" I asked.

Darce --" Sam said.

"I mean, I've saved some people, okay? I figured that made up for the stealing and the ditching dudes. But why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular chick." I said.

"Apparently, you're a regular girl that's important to the man upstairs."

"Well, that creeps me out. I mean, I don't like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by... God."

"Okay, well, too bad, Darcy, because I think he wants you to strap on your party hat." Sam said, crossing his arms.

I cleared my throat, uncomfortable at the thought. "Fine."

"All right, What do we know about angels?" Dean asked.

Bobby picked up a pile of fat and weighty looking books and put them in front of Dean.

"Start reading." Bobby said.

Dean looks at the pile of books, and turns towards Sam.

"You're gonna get me some pie." Dean said, pointing a finger at Sam then grabbed a book from the top of the pile, and stormed off.

The Impala pulled up to a stop outside a diner. Sam was driving while on the phone.

"Yes, Dean, I'll get the chips. Dude. When have I ever forgotten the pie? Exactly." Sam said, getting out of Baby. Ruby was waiting for him, around the corner.

Sam caught sight of her. "I got to go. Yeah, all right. Bye."

Sam walked over to Ruby.

"Ruby."

"So, is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"Did an angel rescue Darcy?"

"You heard."

"Who hasn't?"

"We're not 100% sure, but I think so."

"Okay. Bye, Sam."

Ruby started to walk away. Sam grabbed her arm and turned her back to face him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. What's going on?"

"Sam, they're angels. I'm a demon. They're not gonna care if I'm being helpful. They smite first, and then they ask questions later." Ruby said, giving him a look that said he was clearly stupid.

"What do you know about them?"

"Not much. I've never met one, and I don't really want to. All I know is that they scare the holy hell out of me. Watch yourself, Sam."

"I'm not scared of angels."

Ruby walked away, leaving Sam alone.

Sam pulled up to Bobby's house. Bobby approached the car window.

"Keep the engine running. Bobby said.

"Why? What's going on?" Sam asked.

"I got a friend one state over -- Olivia Lowry. I've been trying to reach her for three days on this angel thing. It's not like her to ignore this many calls."

"Olivia Lowry -- a hunter, right?"

"Yeah. We're gonna go check on her. You guys follow me."

Dean approached the driver's side of the car. As Bobby heads to his own car, I got in the back seat of Baby.

"Scoot over. Yeah."

Dean grabbed the bag of food Sam had bought back and looked inside it.

"Dude?' Dean asked.

"Yeah?"

"Where's the pie?"

Bobby entered the Olivia's house, armed with a gun, followed by Dean, Sam and I who are also armed. We searched for Olivia.

"Olivia?" Bobby called.

We saw Olivia dead and covered in blood on the floor. Bobby walked away, out of the room.

"Bobby?" Dean asked.

"Salt line." Sam said, pointing to the doorway 

Dean, Sam, and I looked around the room, after stepping over the salt line. Sam crouched by the body, while Dean and I looked down at it.

"Olivia was rocking the EMF meter." Dean said, picking up the EMF reader from her hidden stash which was open in the wall. 

"Spirit activity." Sam nodded.

"Yeah -- on steroids. I never seen a ghost do this to a person." Dean agreed, tossing it back on the shelf.

Bobby entered the room again, his phone in his hand."

"Bobby, you all right?" I asked.

"I called some hunters nearby..."

"Good. We can use their help." Dean said.

"...except they ain't answering their phones either.

"Something's up, huh?" Sam asked.

"You think?" Bobby asked sarcastically.

Bobby walked out of the room and Dean, Sam, and I looked concerned.

In a white country house, a phone rings, an answering machine picks up.

"Yeah, this is Jed. I'm not around. Uh, leave a message." a male voice spoke from the machine..

"Jed, Dean Winchester again -- friend of Bobby Singer's. Look, we think something's happening. We think it's happening to hunters. Just want to make sure you're okay. Call me back." Dean's voice said.

With Dean's voice in the background, the house's interior came into view - blood, broken glass, salt thrown on the floor, a gun lying beside a body, which is bloody and has had its chest ripped out.

Dean, Sam, and I walked down the stairs, exiting the same house. Dean on the phone. 

"We're in Jackson. It's not pretty. He looks even worse than Olivia. What about you?"

"I checked on Carl Bates and R.C. Adams. They've redecorated... in red." Bobby replied, driving in his own car.

"What the hell is going on here, Bobby? Why did a bunch of ghosts suddenly want to gank off-duty hunters?"

"I don't know, but until we find out, you guys better get your asses to my place."

"We're on our way."

Dean had started in the driver's seat, but along the way switched places with Sam to catch some shut eye. Sam pulled up to a stop at a service station, turned off the engine, and put the gas pump in the car. He walked to the restroom while the gas is pumping, and I kept on eye on it. Dean was fast sleep in the passenger seat of the car. As Sam washed his hands in the bathroom, he breathes out, his breath visible. The bathroom mirror covered with foggy mist, which Sam wiped away with his hand. He startles when he sees Henriksen's reflection.

"Hi, Sam. It's been a while."

"Henriksen. Are you -- Did you..."Sam asked, as Henriksen glitches like the ghost he is.

"I didn't survive... if that's what you're asking."

"I'm sorry."

"I know you are."

"Look, if we'd known Lilith was coming --"

"You wouldn't have left half a dozen innocent people in that police station to die in your place. You did this to me. It was your fault. She was after you, and I paid the price. You left us there to die!"

Henriksen shoved Sam into the lockers on the opposite wall, grabbed him hard by the jacket and kept him shoved onto the lockers. As he kept him there, he noticed a small brand on Henriksen's hand. Sam was thrown into the wall, then against the mirrors. Henriksen knocked Sam's head on the sink twice, causing him to fall to the ground. Dean and I ran in and shoot at Henriksen, whose ghost disappears.

In Bobby's house, lights flickered and his breath became visible. He heard laughter and walked toward the noise, as he grabbed an iron poker from the fireplace. The lights flickered and the radio started to play. Bobby watched as a ball bounces down the stairs. When it stopped at the bottom he turned and saw two small girls, very much alike, staring at him.

Dean was driving Baby, and on the phone. Sam is in the passenger seat with bruises on his face, as I sat in the back.

"Damn it, Bobby! Pick up!" Dean said, looking at his phone

"How you feeling, huh? How many fingers am I holding up?" Dean asked Sam.

"None. I'll be fine, Dean."

"Henriksen?"

"Yep."

"Why? What did he want?"

"Revenge, 'cause we got him killed."

"Sam."

"Well, we did, Dean."

"All right. Stop right there. Whatever the hell is going on, it's happening to us now, okay? I can't get ahold of Bobby, so if you're not thinking answers, don't think at all."

Dean, Sam, and I entered bobby's house, shotguns cocked and ready.

"Bobby?" Dean whisper-shouted.

We crept into the living room. Dean peeked around the corner to the staircase and spotted the iron poker on the ground. He snapped his fingers, and pointed at it.

I'll go. You two check outside." Dean said, gesturing to the stairs

Sam and I walked through the junkyard. Bobby was in a car with the two girls, who were keeping him quiet.

"Bobby? Bobby?" Sam and I call out.

Dean was upstairs, searching. "Bobby?" A door opened, slowly, no one is visible.

"Come out, come out, whoever you are."

A young woman with shoulder-length brown hair appeared behind him. .

"Dean Winchester. Still so bossy. You don't recognize me?" she asked. "This is what I looked like before that demon cut off my hair and dressed me like a slut."

"Meg?"

"Hi. It's okay, I'm not a demon."

"You're the girl the demon possessed."

"Meg Masters. Nice to finally talk to you when I'm not, you know, choking on my own blood." Meg held up her hands. "It's okay. Seriously, I'm just a college girl. Sorry -- was. I was walking home one night and got jumped by all this smoke. Next thing you know, I'm a prisoner... " She put a hand to her head. "...in here. Now, I was awake. I had to watch while she murdered people."

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, yeah? So sorry you had me thrown off a building?"

"Well, we thought --"

"No, you didn't think! I kept waiting, praying! I was trapped in there screaming at you! "Just help me, please!" You're supposed to help people, Dean. Why didn't you help me?"

"I'm sorry."

"Stop saying you're sorry!" Meg said, as she slapped Dean, knocking him to the floor.

"Meg. Meg..."

Meg kicked Dean in the face.

"We didn't know."Dean said, strained, struggling to sit up.

Meg stalked toward him, kneeling to stare into his eyes. "No... You just attacked. Did you ever think there was a girl in here? No. You just charged in, slashing and burning. You think you're some kind of hero?"

"No, I don't."

Meg grabbed hold of Dean's jacket. Her hand has a brand on it.

"You're damn right. Do you have any idea what it's like to be ridden for months by pure evil... while your family has no idea what happened to you?"

"We did the best we could."

Meg shoved Dean away from her, stood up and kicked him again.

Back in the car, "Are you scared, Bobby?" one of the girls asked.

"We were scared, Bobby." the other girl said.

"When the monster came for us... and grabbed us tight."

And we couldn't even scream. You were right there, Bobby.

"You were in the house."

"You were so close."

Sam and I were outside searching for Bobby, our breath became visible.

"Bobby?" Sam asked.

"You could have saved us, Bobby." the second girl said.

"We're here, Bobby?" Sam called again.

"You walked right past that door." the first girl said.

"The monster had us. And you didn't find us."

"And now they won't find you."

Upstairs, Dean was still on the floor, Meg standing over him.

"It wasn't just me, Dean. I had a sister. A little sister. She worshipped me. You know how little siblings are, right? How they'll do anything for you. She was never the same after I disappeared. She just... she just got lost. And when my body was lying in the morgue beat-up and broken..."

"Meg."

"Do you know what that did to her? She killed herself!" She kicked Dean in the stomach. "Because of you, Dean! Because all you were thinking about was your family, your revenge, and your demons! 50 words of Latin a little sooner, and I'd still be alive. My baby sister would still be alive. That blood is on your hands, Dean!"

"You're right."

Meg kicked at Dean again.

Outside, Sam spotted a reflection and worked his way up a pile of cars toward Bobby, I followed.

"Bobby! Hold on, Bobby! We're coming! Bobby!" Sam called, staring down at him in the car.

I held onto the door handle of one of the back doors of the the van, as Sam used a crowbar to pry them open to where Bobby was being held. The girls pushed the other door open, which sent Sam flying backwards where he landed on another car below, bleeding. I was thrown to the ground. One of the girls jumped on Sam. He swiped the crowbar through her, while Bobby did the same with the other girl. The girls disappeared. 

Inside, Dean was still on the ground, crawling away from Meg. Who leaned in the doorway. He took out a gun and aimed it at Meg.

"Come on, Dean, did your brain get french-fried? You can't shoot me with bullets."

"I'm not shooting you."

Dean aimed his gun and shot at the ceiling. A chandelier fell and landed on Meg.

"Iron." Dean stated.

Later, Dean, Sam, Bobby and I are in the study.

"So, they're all people we know?" Sam asked

"Not just know. People we couldn't save. Hey, I saw something on Meg. Did she have a tattoo when she was alive?" Dean asked

"I don't think so."

"It was like a-a mark on her hand -- almost like a brand."

"I saw a mark, too, on Henriksen."

"What did it look like?" Bobby asked.

"Uh, paper?" Sam took the offered paper and started sketching the mark. "Thanks."

Sam held the drawing up for Dean to compare.

"That's it." Dean said.

"I may have seen this before."Bobby said as he grabbed some books off a nearby bookcase. Dean cocked Sam's shotgun, and handed it to him. The lights began to flicker, and the radio became static-y. "We got to move."

"Whoa." Sam said, balancing the books and his shotgun.

"Follow me." Bobby said.

"Okay, where are we going?" Sam asked.

"Some place safe, you idjit." Bobby said, handing books to Sam.

Bobby picked up some more books and led Dean, Sam, and I to a basement room, which was made entirely of iron and covered with pentagrams and Devil's traps.

"Bobby, is this..." Sam asked.

'Solid iron. Completely coated in salt. 100% ghost-proof." Bobby said.

"You built a panic room?"

"I had a weekend off."

"Bobby." Dean said picking up one of the many weapons off the walls.

"What?" Bobby said.

"You're awesome." Dean said, catching sight of a swimsuit model. "Oh."

"So cool! You finally made it! It sounded so awesome last time we had talked about it." I said. "Also, since it sounds like we're gonna need another hand in soon so... How 'bout after we survive this I ask Claire if she wants to help. She'll probably have started to run into a few similar problems anyway. At this rate, It just might be safer to keep her with us instead of on her own."

"Sounds good. Your sister has been trained well enough to hold her own. She might be safer this way." Bobby said.

"Good. I'll call her and arrange a meeting after this settles a little." I said.

Sam, Dean, and I were making salt and gunpowder bullets.

"See, this is why I can't get behind God." I said.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"If he doesn't exist, fine. Bad crap happens to good people. That's how it is. There's no rhyme or reason -- just random, horrible, evil -- I get it, okay. I can roll with that. But if he is out there, what's wrong with him? Where the hell is he while all these decent people are getting torn to shreds? How does he live with himself? You know, why doesn't he help?" I said.

"I ain't touching this one with that 10-foot pole." Bobby said.

"Yeah." I said.

"Found it." Bobby said.

"What?" Dean asked.

"The symbol you saw -- the brand on the ghosts..."

"Yeah?" Dean asked.

"Mark of the Witness." Bobby said.

"Witness? Witness to what?" Sam asked.

"The unnatural. None of them died what you'd call ordinary deaths. See, these ghosts -- they were forced to rise. They woke up in agony. They were like rabid dogs. It ain't their fault. Someone rose them... on purpose."

"Who?"

"Do I look like I know? But whoever it was used a spell so powerful it left a mark, a brand on their souls." Bobby said, as Sam t\stood up to look over his shoulder. "Whoever did this had big plans. It's called "the rising of the witnesses." It figures into an ancient prophecy."

"Wait, wait. What -- what book is that prophecy from?" Dean asked as he rose to stand next to Sam, and I joined them.

"Well, the widely distributed version's just for tourists, you know. But long story short -- Revelations. This is a sign, boys."

"A sign of what?" Sam and Dean asked.

"The apocalypse." Bobby said.

"Apocalypse? The apocalypse, apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, $5-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?" Dean asked.

"That's the one. The rise of the witnesses is a -- a mile marker." Bobby replied.

"I read about this when I went through the library. It only gets worse from here." I said

"Okay, so, what do we do now?" Sam asked.

"Road trip. Grand Canyon, Star Trek Experience. Bunny Ranch." Dean said.

"First things first. How about we survive our friends out there?" Bobby said.

"Great. Any ideas aside from staying in this room until Judgment Day?"

"It's a spell (indicates the paper in front of him) to send the witnesses back to rest. Should work."

"Should. Great." Sam said.

"If I translate it correctly. I think I got everything we need here at the house." Bobby said.

"Any chance you got everything we need here in this room?" Dean asked.

"So, you thought our luck was gonna start now all of a sudden? Spell's got to be cast over an open fire. 

"The fireplace in the library." Sam said.

"Bingo." Bobby said.

"That's just not as appealing as a, uh, ghost-proof panic room, you know?" Dean said.

Sam, Dean, Bobby, and I prepared to leave the panic room.

"Cover each other. And aim careful. Don't run out of ammo until I'm done, or they'll shred you. Ready?"

We made our way out of the room, and headed toward the stairs. A ghost sat on the stairs, a chubby young man in his early 20's with curly hair.

"Hey, Dean. You remember me?" Ronald asked. 

"Ronald, huh? With the laser eyes? I wish I could say it's good to see you." Dean said.

"I am dead because of you. You were supposed to help me!"

Bobby shot at Ronald. "If you're gonna shoot, shoot. Don't talk."

Sam, Dean, Bobby, and I made our way to the living room. Sam created a salt circle, Dean started the fire, while I stood guard with my shotgun.

"Upstairs, linen closet -- red hex box. It'll be heavy." Bobby told Sam.

"Got it." Sam said as he ran upstairs, shotgun in hand.

The two girls appeared in the living room again.

"Bobby." the first girl said.

Dean shot at the girls.

"Kitchen. Cutlery drawer. It's got a false bottom. Hemlock, opium, wormwood." Bobby told Dean.

"Opium?" Dean questioned.

"Go!" Bobby shouted.

The girls reappeared as Dean left for the kitchen. Bobby was drawing with chalk on the desk and tried to focus on that while the girls were there.

"Bobby. You walk..." the girls stopped as I shot them 

Upstairs, Sam found the red box in the cupboard.

"You know what really pisses me off, Sam?" Meg said, appearing to his right.

Sam turned, saw her, and fired at her.

"You saw how I suffered for months. I thought you must have learned something. I thought I died for something." Meg said, appearing behind him.

"Meg." Sam said, turning around to face her.

"But what you're doing with that demon, Ruby... How many innocent bodies has Ruby burned through for kicks? How many girls just like me? And you don't send her back to Hell? You're a monster!"

Sam raised his rifle and shot Meg.

Dean was in the kitchen looking for the false bottom in the drawer. The doors to the kitchen closed suddenly.

"Dean?" Bobby asked.

"I'm all right, Bobby! Keep working!" Dean shouted.

Henriksen appeared next to Dean.

"Victor." Dean said.

"Dean." Henriksen said.

"I know."

"No. You don't."

"It's my fault you're dead. I left you behind. And the minute I heard about that explosion, I thought, 'I should have known. I should have protected you.'"

Dean reached for a gun behind him, but it went flying across the room.

"Unh-unh. Not so fast. You think you left and Lilith came and we all died in a beautiful blast of... white light? If only. 45 minutes."

"What?"

"Over 45 minutes. Lilith said she wanted to have some fun. The secretary was first. Remember her? Nancy, the virgin. Lilith filleted Nancy's skin off piece by piece. Right in front of us, made us watch. Nancy never stopped screaming."

"No."

"I was the last."

"Victor..."

Henriksen reached inside Dean's chest and gripped his heart.

"Tell me how it's fair. She got saved from Hell -- I die. Why do she deserve another chance, Dean?"

Sam entered and shot Henriksen, then rushed to check on Dean as soon as Henriksen was gone.

"You all right?"

"No."

"Let's go."

Sam helped Dean up and he and Dean carried the hex box and other ingredients to the library.

Ronald appeared again as Dean and I were reloading our guns.

"Ronald. Hey, come on, man. I thought we were pals." Dean said.

"That's when I was breathing. Now I'm gonna eat you alive."

"Well...come on, I'm not a cheeseburger."

Dean cocked his gun and pointed it at Ronald, but Ronald had vanished. Bobby recited some Latin words and the windows blew open and a wind filled the room. The wind moved the salt so we are no longer protected by it. Meg appeared and Sam quickly shot at her, as Bobby continued to recite the spell. Henriksen appeared and I shot him. Ronald appeared and they shot at him. Sam, Dean, and I continued to fire as the ghosts appeared, reloading as we went. Henriksen knocked Dean's gun out of his hands when he was reloading, and approached him. Dean grabbed another gun, and shot it, only to find it empty. He quickly picked up an iron rod and swung at Henriksen. Meg appeared and pushed Sam against the wall, trapping him there with a desk. Sam tries to push the desk away without success. Out of ammo, and with no iron, I stood helpless.

"Sam!" Dean shouted.

"Cover Bobby!" Sam shouted back.

Bobby continued to recite the spell and Sam kept trying to get out from behind the desk. The two girls are sitting on the desk waiting. Meg plunged a hand into Bobby's back. Bobby dropped the bowl with the spell ingredients.

"Dean!"Bobby shouted, as Dean caught the bowl, "Fireplace!"

Dean threw the bowl in the fire, which turned blue. The ghosts all disappeared. Bobby fell to the ground.

"Bobby?" Dean asked.

Sam pushed the desk away, freeing himself.

Dean and Sam helped Bobby up, as I stood and watched. He nodded, indicating he was okay.

Sam was asleep on the couch. Dean and I were asleep on the floor nearby. I woke up to find Castiel standing in the kitchen. I checked on Dean and Sam, saw they were asleep, and walked over to join Castiel.

"Excellent job with the witnesses." Castiel said.

"You were hip to all this?" I asked.

"I was, uh, made aware."

"Well, thanks a lot for the angelic assistance. You know, Dean almost got his heart ripped out of his chest."

"But he didn't."

"I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos -- you know, Michael Landon. Not dicks."

"Read the Bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."

"Yeah? Then, why didn't you fight?"

"I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns."

"Concerns? There were people getting torn to shreds down here! And, by the way, while all this is going on, where the hell is your boss, huh, if there is a God?"

"There's a God."

"I'm not convinced. 'Cause if there's a God, what the hell is he waiting for, huh? Genocide? Monsters roaming the earth? The freaking apocalypse? At what point does he lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?"

"The Lord works..."

"If you say 'mysterious ways,' so help me, I will kick your ass. So, Bobby was right... about the witnesses. This is some kind of a... sign of the apocalypse."

"That's why we're here. Big things afoot."

"Do I want to know what kind of things?"

"I sincerely doubt it, but you need to know. The rising of the witnesses is one of the 66 seals."

"Okay. I'm guessing that's not a show at SeaWorld."

"Those seals are being broken by Lilith."

"She did the spell. She rose the witnesses."

"Mm-hmm. And not just here. 20 other hunters are dead."

"Of course. She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they would barrel right after us."

"Lilith has a certain sense of humor."

"Well, we put those spirits back to rest."

"It doesn't matter. The seal was broken."

"Why break the seal anyway?"

"You think of the seals as locks on a door."

"Okay. Last one opens and..."

"Lucifer walks free."

"Lucifer? But I thought Lucifer was just a story they told at demon Sunday school. There's no such thing."

"Three days ago, you thought there was no such thing as me. Why do you think we're here walking among you now for the first time in 2,000 years?"

"To stop Lucifer."

'That's why we've arrived."

"Well... bang-up job so far. Stellar work with the witnesses. That's nice."

"We tried. And there are other battles, other seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This one we lost. Our numbers are not unlimited. Six of my brothers died in the field this week. You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around? There's a bigger picture here. You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in."

Castiel vanished, leaving me alone in the kitchen. Later I woke up. Sam and Dean were already awake and up and about.

"You all right? What's wrong, Darcy?" Sam asked.

"So... You got no problem believing in... God and Angels?" I asked.

"No, not really."

"So, I guess that means that you believe in the Devil."

"Why are you asking me all this?"

**Author's Note:**

> So how was it? Please no hate. First time posting. Please tell me about any grammar errors, or continuity, or spelling errors that I made, so I can fix them if possible. What about the story in general? Should I continue?


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